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Excelsior High school recovered from their opening-day loss to defending champions Kingston College to comprehensively defeat Dunoon Technical in action from Saturday’s games.

In other games on Saturday St Andrew Technical were the biggest winners, handing Northern Technical a 12-0 beating that wasn’t the best welcome they could have envisioned to the competition.

St George’s College, perennial contenders, also started well, destroying Ardenne High 5-1, while St Catherine High were massive 8-1 winners over Oberlin.

Cumberland edged St Jago High 1-0 in a St Catherine derby, while Kingston High and Charlie Smith played out a 1-1 draw. Denham Town were not in the mood to give anything away, beating Ascot 1-0, while the Kingston College train kept rolling with the 5-0 schellacking of Pembroke Hall.

Defending Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division champions Naparima College have slipped while newcomers Malick Secondary have announced themselves as real contenders with their second win from as many games.

The victory put Malick at the top of the table as the only team to have kept a 100 per cent win record to date in addition to a healthy + seven after their 5-0 thrashing of Speyside Secondary last week.

This week, things were a little closer as Trinity College Moka returned from their 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Presentation College last week to put in a much improved performance.

Despite giving nearly as good as they got, Trinity College Moka are now second from bottom, just ahead of Speyside Secondary who also fell to a second defeat.

Speyside, who were destroyed on opening weekend, found the going no easier against St Anthony’s College who blew them away 7-1.

St Anthony’s are now in third place on the tables with four points along with Naparima College, who are in fourth after their 2-2 draw on Saturday.

There are two other teams on four points, with East Mucurapo Secondary in second and Trinity College East in fifth also in the running for a title, at least in the early going.

Presentation College were pegged back 2-1 by Carapichaima East, who like them, are now on three points in sixth and eighth places respectively.

St Benedict’s College got off the mark against St Mary’s College (CIC) but had to work hard after the latter joined them at 2-2 before they pulled away.

Pleasantville Secondary also had a turnaround on Saturday, losing to Queen’s Royal College 4-2. QRC were coming off 6-0 loss and now lie 10th with this victory.

St Augustine Secondary have had two draws this season, this week, Trinity College East too tough to get by in a 2-2 affair.

San Juan North Secondary are yet to get off the mark, after their bye this week.

Messi, 32, can reportedly leave Barcelona at the end of any season for a club outside of Europe despite being contracted at the LaLiga champions until 2021.

Linked with a shock switch to David Beckham's MLS outfit Inter Miami, the club are continuing to make moves for the Argentina superstar.

TOP STORY – INTER MIAMI REPRESENTATIVE MEETS MESSI'S DAD

Beckham sent Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough to London for talks with Messi's dad Jorge, according to The Sun.

Inter Miami are set to enter MLS in 2020 and are looking for a big-name signing, with Messi undoubtedly the biggest of the names linked.

It comes just days after Messi said in an interview with Sport that he wanted to remain at Camp Nou for "as long as possible".

ROUND-UP

- Real Madrid could chase Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba again in January. Sport Bild reports Real Madrid are planning to use Toni Kroos in an exchange deal to land the France international, who was heavily linked with a switch during the close season.

- Sadio Mane re-signed with Liverpool until 2023 less than 12 months ago, but the European champions are already looking for the attacker to recommit. Liverpool have opened talks with Mane for an extension, according to Soccer Link.

- Seemingly unwanted at Juventus, Mario Mandzukic's future remains a talking point. Qatari club Al-Gharafa have offered €6million net per year to the striker and can meet Juve's demands, according to CalcioMercato, which reports Los Angeles FC are also interested in the Croatian despite the MLS transfer window not reopening until February.

- Inter are already looking to lock down a couple of stars. CalcioMercato reports the Serie A giants want to extend the contracts of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic – until 2022 – and forward Lautaro Martinez until 2024. The report says Inter would also double Martinez's salary from €1.5m to €3m per season amid interest from Barcelona.

- Sam Allardyce is ready for a return to management. The Sun reports the former England boss, who left Everton in May last year, is eyeing a return to Sunderland if the reported takeover by an American consortium is completed.